##VIDEO ID:u5SV0z1ukgA## good evening and welcome to the public Hearing in the Liv Livingston Zoning Board of adjustment today is is December 10th 2024 if you're an applicant for a d or use variance you should be aware that such a variance can only be granted after showing that special reasons for the grant of that variance exist and that variance can be granted without substantial detriment to the zoning plan of the township of Livingston you should also be aware that in order to be granted such of variance you'll require affirmative vote of five members of the seven member Board of adjustment other Varian require a majority of four members to grant that variance if you're an applicant for any variance and our and your variance is denied by this board you have a right to appeal to the superior court of the state of New Jersey within 45 days of notice of decision and that Court May overturn the decision of this board if you're objector to any type of variance that has been granted you too May appeal to the superior court of the state of New Jersey within 45 days and notice a decision if you do file an appeal I ask that you please provide a copy of of your complaint excuse me to the planning administrator Jackie Hollis pursuant to requirement the open public meeting act also known as Sunshine Law adequate notice of this special meeting was provided to The Star Ledger and West ESS Tribune and a copy was also posted on the buling board of the municipal building in addition to having notice posted notice of this meeting was placed on the Township's website members of the public will have an opportunity to ask questions or make statements regarding each application at the appropriate time when the time comes if You' like to address the board please come to the front and use a microphone so we make sure your comments or questions upon part the record we will now call the role Miss Khan Miss Khan is here Mr Kenya is not here Mr horn here Mr Shaw here miss morachi is not here Mr Sherman here miss kanana here and Mr Beer here we have a Mr and um Mr Valerio our board attorney is here and Jackie Hollis our planning administrator and Katherine Madre from the planning department is here as well thank you would you like to call the first forgot that part um block 3811 Lot 4 73 West Cedar Street application number 20 24- 47- V7 73 West Cedar New Jersey LLC applicant seeks approval to construct a new single family residence in violation of the following sections 17099 am I reading the wrong thing I'm sorry I'm reading the wrong thing okay um block 16 1906 lo22 54 Melrose Drive application number 2024 46v Square Group realy LLC applicant seeks approval to construct a single new single family residence in violation of the following sections 17099 C2 front yard setb 40 ft required 36.5 ft proposed 3.5 ft variance requested 17087 cc4 habitable floor area ratio 30% allowed 34.8 6% proposed 4.86 variants requested please let the record show that Mr Kenya showed up at 626 we just started perfect timing now I turn it over to you sir thank you sir very much uh good evening board my name is Matthew P with the law firm SS C and gross and before I dive into this application I just want to thank everybody for coming here early for the six o'clock kickoff I know it's not easy traffic isn't light so we deeply appreciate the board here miss Hollis Miss Madre and Our IT guy for always playing the MTV Jams I represent the applicant Square Group realy LLC in connection with this application for habitable floor area ratio as well as a front yard setback the applicant is here tonight proposing to demo the existing Improvement develop a new single family home which include a porch a patio and improvements to the storm water management for the subject site this application itself though although proposing or should I say requesting a variance is also eliminating two variances for side guard and side and aggregate sidey guard as well well in addition although we are requesting front yard setback relief that is the same front yard setback that exists there today so it's really a non-conformity but never less it still needs to be noticed and it still needs to be asked for Relief because we are asking for a ratio variance and by asking for a ratio variance we are intensifying by definition uh that request at relief with that being said I have two professionals here with me tonight both of these professionals will be providing testim before this board I will have my architect apped first followed by my planner to hopefully wrap it up and if I may I like to call my first witness my architect amen you swear the testimony given this matter will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth give us your full name and spell your last name for the record full name is Iman sedra um a y m n last name is sedra s c d r a thank you Mr sedra if you may can you please provide your educational credentials and determine whether or not your like not determine let them determine why don't you state whether or not your license is a good standing uh yes I have a bachelor degree in architecture and I'm a licensed architect in the state of New Jersey state of New York Pennsylvania and Tennessee and I did testify in front of this board and my license in a good standing I'm current thank you do this sport accept him as a professional architecture does anyone in the board have any questions objections regarding this witness there being no objections the witness is accepted as an expert architecture thank you so much uh cedra did you have an opportunity to visit the subject site yes and did you also have the opportunity to review the zoning code when determining or I should I say drafting these proposed plans yes terrific why don't you walk us through what we're looking to do here from both the floor plan and also elevation perspective sure um I'm going to start with reviewing sheet A1 that shows the basement and the first floor um the the first floor um consists of the living uh spaces in the house we enter through the entry porch we have an entry uh foyer in the middle we have the dining room and the living room on the right on the left we have the garage we have a coat closet uh walking down this way uh we enter the house from the garage through a door and through also next to that door we have the mudroom area um we have a powder room and we have the guest Suite here next to uh the garage area the guest Suite has its own bathroom and and closet the stair here we have it in the middle of the house uh on the right side here we have the pantry and the butler Bantry um going back to the end of the house uh we have the family room in on in the left side we have the kitchen on the right side and then walking out to the backyard through a wood deck and uh just uncovered patio uh 12T x 12 ft this is the first floor the area for the first floor is uh 1,599 the garage area is 463 um the floor next to it is the basement uh the basement consists of a wreck room just one big open space at the back of the house uh also we have a mechanical room facing the front of the house and a bedroom with an grass axis um and also we have a bathroom to uh serve this level and some closets storage closets um the area for the basement is 1,55 599 uh the next sheet uh ao2 shows the second floor plan the second floor plan consists of four bedrooms um one being the master at the rear of the house the back of the house the master has its own master bathroom and walk-in closets we have one closet here one closet here um and we have three other bedrooms one one of them is being the in Suite bedroom with its own uh walk-in closet and bathroom the other two bedrooms they're sharing a bathroom and they have also closet spaces um uh at the front of the house here or facing the front wall of the house we have the laundry room uh we have a pull down stair for the attic axis um on the this is the front it's a colonial style home we're using uh uh Hardy uh horizontal board and board and batten for this house we're using some stone at the base we're using dark roofs Shang of roofs the roof is is a hi roof we have um casan window for this house um the attic is only accessible through the pull down stair and the height uh that I have from the second floor um roof plate to the highest point of the roof I have a height of 6 feet 1 and4 that's the overall height from the highest point of the roof to the second floor plate um this is the rear of the house we have a balcony at the rear of the house uh it will be can levered from the framing uh a lot of glazing and this these are the two uh sides um this is the look of the building here as a from the rendering as you see you see the stone at the base we have a Hardy Board horizontal Hardy Board at the the first floor and then we did The Bard and Baton on the second floor uh just gray colors white gray colors black roof and also we have some um wood slats at the you know just to get create some accents on the on the walls that's all uh so the the variants we're applying for we're uh the floor area ratio is 30% we're applying for 34.8 6 uh with a 4.86% increase uh we are not exceeding the habitable floor area which is uh the code calls for 3,220 and our house is 3,219 that's adding the liveable area in the first and second floor and not including the garage or the basement and just for clarification we say garage not including the first 450 feet of the garage but does include the additional 13 hangover right uh yes exactly thank you yes just just real quick I don't think we have that can we get that A1 yeah please thank you sorry that that's a rendering of the front facade that's A1 today's date the building height uh calls for 35 ft our building height here is 29 uh 34 ft we're almost 5T and change below the required height and just for clarification purposes again uh the attic itself is a pull down with a pinnacle height of 6.1 ft so it could not be habitable correct correct and this is a hi roof configuration there's no windows so it's all all inclosed perfect thank you I have no further questions for this Witness does anyone have any questions for this witness I don't think anyone in the public has any questions so just taking a stab okay all right if I may i' like to call my last witness my planner Mr Nick ravano raise your right hand you swear the testimony you're about to give this matter would be the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth I do all right again give us your full name and spell your last name please yes my first name is Nicholas with an H last name gravano gr a v is inv Victor i a n o great Mr gravano can you please provide educational credentials and whether or not your license is still in good standing uh yes I have a bachelor's degree from Ruckers University a master's degree from Ruckers University and a law degree from the Temple University School of Law my professional planning license is still valid hold an aicp certification and I've been qualified by this board on numerous occasions than you does anybody have any um uh questions or objections regarding this witness there be no objections the witness accepted as expert in planning thank you thank you chairman always a pleasure being here uh Nick did you have an opportunity to study the subject site the master plan and also the zoning code yes I've been on this site at at two occasions now I went last time I went this time uh looked at the zoning ordinance master plan as well as the professionals review letter for this application terrific and did you also review the plans that we submitted yes I have terrific why don't you walk us through the request of relief and why you believe that the site can accommodate it yes the main variants the applicants requesting this evening is the habitable floor area ratio variants uh whereas 30% is permitted the applicant is requesting 34.8 perc there are additional C variances being requested as well uh the applicant is deficient in lot area and lot width these are existing conditions not augmented by this application they certainly could be granted under the C1 criteria whereas strict application of the municipality zoning ordinance would create an undue hardship upon the applicant um as Mr basad indicated the applicant is also requesting a front yard setback variance whereas 40 ft is required re ired 36.5 ft is proposed uh 36.266415 variant um as Mr pada indicated the applicant is removing existing deficiencies for minimum side yard and minimum and aggregate side yard so when you're examining the FL habitable floor area ratio variants the applicant must demonstrate that the site can accommodate uh the proposed building given the request for the habitable floor area ratio variance so in this context the applicant is certainly meeting uh all setbacks uh with exception from the front yard which is keeping that established front yard setback I would also like to note that the applicant is actually reducing lot coverage in this situation by 2.6% so that's 2.6% of of impervious coverage that's being eliminated with this project the applicant is also uh providing a dry well storm water drainage system with does which does not exist today on a site that has more impervious coverage so certainly uh this proposal advances purpose a of the mun ipal land use law promotion of the public health safety and and general welfare uh it also advances purpose G sufficient space and appropriate location for a variety of residential uses to meet the needs of New Jersey citizens and lastly it promotes purpose ey desirable visual environment and good uh Civic Arrangement and design techniques uh there's no substantial detriment to the Zone planner zoning ordinance with the granting of this F habitable floor area variants and the applicant is meeting uh the habitable floor area square footage so it's certainly a house which is in keeping of the neighborhood I have no further questions for this witness anyone in the board have any questions for this witness you want to make any closing statement or you're done I'll wave it okay anybody want to make a statement does anybody want to make a motion I'll make a motion second yes Miss cona V I know we don't do that anymore yes um Miss kanana and Mr horn yes Miss Khan votes yes Mr Kenya yes Mr Shaw yes Mr Sherman yes and Mr Beer yes motion pass thank you welcome okay I'm sorry what we miss I didn't hear Mr chairman if if if I may can you just have the them clarify the motion I make a motion to approve or deny that that has to be on the record thank you let's do it the right way well thank you for your testimony tonight we appreciate the fact that you are maintaining the setbacks and you've actually eliminated the side yard setbacks as you pointed out and you have also reduced the impervious coverage we appreciate that and I think this this um this new structure is of no of detriment to the neighborhood in fact it's going to probably enhance the neighborhood and for those reasons and more I make a motion to approve this application second the motion to approve okay next application 7 block 3811 lot 473 West Cedar Street application number 20244 47- V 73 73 West Cedar NJ LLC applicant seeks approval to construct a single new family residence in violation of the following sections 17099 C4 rear yard setback 35 ft required 31.2 ft proposed 3.78 ft variance requested 17087 cc2 habit floor area ratio 30% required 34.8% proposed 4.18% variance requested good evening my name is Matthew pad with the law firm SS cus and gross and I represent 73 West Cedar New Jersey LLC this is an application for a h floor area ratio as well as a rear yard setback for an application where we're looking to do is demolish the existing Improvement and develop a new single family home although the application is requesting a rear yard setback It's actually an improvement to the intensification what currently exists there for the rear yard setback in addition all other bulk VAR all bulk measurements are compliant including the habital floor area but it's rather just the ratio that we are seeking relief for even though it's technically not an undersized lot at 9,419 square feet with that being said I have two professionals to testify tonight I have an architect and also a planner as well and if I may I like to have my first witness uh introduced thank you I'm sorry you testimony you given this man would be the truth the whole truth and the the truth the I do thank you just gives us your full name for the record Sor full name for the record full name Ian sedra uh last name is cedra s CD uh Mr cedra can you please state to the board whether or not your license is still in good standing from 10 minutes ago you can yes it's still still in good standing I'm current we can accept you as as an expert in architecture all right Mr SED why don't you walk us through the proposed that here um uh this house um we're designing a single family house uh the first floor uh area is 1,561 the first floor consists of the Living Spaces and two car garage um the basement uh consists of one big Rick room and we have a bedroom and M room um the liveable area in the basement is 1,561 the second floor consists of the bedrooms we have four bedrooms every room has its uh has a bathroom and a closet uh except for two two bedrooms they're sharing a bathroom um the exterior of this building it's a this is the look of the building from outside it's a Colonia style home with the shed roofs uh we we introduce it uh introduced the white and black roofs uh the white is the the siding we have a lap siding on at the first floor and board and beton at the second floor casement windows um you know it's a colonial style with some Modern accent um and this is the outside of the building the Second Story um the attic is only access access through uh uh pull downstairs uh from the second floor and the roof height uh from the roof plate to the highest point of the roof is 7 7 ft exactly from the second floor plate to the highest point of the roof is 7 ft now regarding the square footage we have the first floor at 1,561 the garage at 435 the second floor um at uh 1,659 with the total floor area ratio of uh 3 3,220 which is 34% and 18.18 um we only applying for a 4 411 18% variance for the ratio uh we are in line with the habitable floor area which is the 3,220 uh we also applying for a rear yard uh variance Rel relates to the uh the deck at the back uh which is the the proposed is 31.2 Ft uh that's all I have no further questions for this witness does anyone on the board have any questions for this Witness back to you if I may I like to call my next witness my last witness Mr graviano my planner you swear to test testimony give this matter will be the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth I do Mr gravano is your license still in good standing for planning yes it is terrific does the board accept them we can accept you as expert in uh planning thank you so much thank you uh Nick did you have an opportunity to review the plans visit the subject site and then also review the municipality's code and master plan in relation to the single family home proposals yes I did terrific why don't you walk us through the relief we're requesting here tonight okay uh the applicant's first variance being requested is for minimum lot depth uh that's an existing condition not augmented by this application uh the code requires 125 ft where 11774 feet are existing and proposed uh that variance can be granted under the C1 criteria without substantial impairment to the Zone plan or zoning ordinance um as indicated in the architectural testimony the applicant is requesting a rear yard setback for the enclosed deck whereas 35 ft is required uh 31.2 two feet is proposed uh 29.5 n ft is existing uh this is a lot that has a deficient 7.26 ft lot depth uh the applicant is requesting the rear yard setback variance of 3.78 ft I would like to note that this is for an open deck that simply has a roof this applicant would certainly be willing to have a condition of approval that prohibits the enclosing of that rear open deck uh in the future uh so I think that is a good uh safeguard for the municipality to ensure that that's not living space down the road uh that variance could be granted under the C2 criteria advancing purposes Agni the IAL land use Law Without substantial impairment to the Zone plan or zoning ordinance given a deficient lot depth of the property the house is established at a front yard setback that does allow for two cars parking in the driveway so looking at the biggest variants the applicants requesting that's for the habitable floor area ratio uh 30% is permitted by code the applicant is requesting 3418 ft uh I would like to note that the applicant is right on the dot for the habitable floor area square footage whereas 3220 Square ft is permitted and that's the applicant's proposal before you this evening uh look looking at the uh setbacks the applicants going to meet all all the required setbacks except for that very modest enclosed rear deck so the site could certainly accommodate the proposed building given the uh request for the increase in habitable floor area ratio uh this is another property that will be providing a storm waterer management system which doesn't exist today um so certainly advancing the purposes of zoning a a promotion of the public health safety morals and general welfare also advancing purpose G sufficient space and appropriate location for a variety of residential uses to meet the needs of New Jersey citizens and as Mr cedra's impeccably designed house indicates it also create a desirable visual environment through good Civic design and arrangements and creative development techniques there's certainly no substantial impairment to the Zone plan or zoning ordinance with the granting of that habitable FL area ratio variance uh Mr graan when it comes to the rear yard setback is it correct that that is in connection with the proposed porch yes it is for a covered deck yes right and therefore it's open a correct yes and the applicant would agree to prohibit from enclosing that for living space okay and then my last question is is it also true that the proposed rear yard setback is actually reduction intensification comparatively to what exist there today yes uh the numbers I provided before is 29.5 n exists today for the dwelling and the applicant is proposing 31.2 two for that cover deck so before it was for just the dwelling now it's the dwelling and the cover porch yeah the dwelling actually meets the setback except for the covered the covered deck yes terrific thank you I have no further questions for this witness is anyone on the board have any questions for this wi public anybody in the public have any questions for this witness nope all right thank you so much I wait my information okay thank you does anybody want to make a statement does anyone want to make a motion I'd make a motion to approve subject to the condition of uh the cover reports not being able to be enclosed at a future time I second it okay Mr horn approved Mr Sherman yes Miss con votes yes Mr Kenya yes Mr Shaw yes um Miss kanana yes and Mr Beer yes we should schedule all of our meetings at six o'clock that's what I'm saying thank you all righty block 3203 lot 60 15 Brookside Place application number 202 24- 56 56- V Road act Builders LLC applicant seeks approval to construct a new single family residence in violation of the following sections 17099 C2 front yard setback 40 ft required 32 ft proposed 8 ft variance requested 17087 l1d front side yard corner lot setback 35 ft required 10.92 feet proposed 24.08.2011 front yard set back you'll hear the testimony tonight that'll confirm that although we are asking for both relief both of these reliefs that we're requesting before the sport are actually reduction in intensification for both the front side and also the front and when you take in consideration the established setback line in a way it actually isn't a variance anymore for front yard setback nevertheless we are proposing this application which will also include a patio and a dry a dryw Improvement as well so to improve the storm water mitigation for the subject site this application will have two professionals testifying one will be my architect and the second one will be my planner and if I may I like to call my first witness my architect please do thank you you swear to testimony give this matter will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth I do thank you please give us your name for the record uh I man sedra last name is sedra s CD and here's a leading question your license is a good standing yes thank you we can accept you as expert in architecture Mr sedra please walk us through what we're proposing here tonight uh sure we're proposing a sing Family Residence here on this lot uh the first floor consists of the Living Spaces and also we have two car garage the area for the uh for the first floor livable area is 1,268 the garage area is 439 uh the B basement uh consist of just one big uh Rick room and a bed also we have a bedroom and a bathroom and this uh level the area is uh 1,268 uh the second floor consists of four bedrooms um uh with bathrooms and closets and also we have a laundry room facing the front of the building the second floor area uh is 1,628 uh the total first floor and second floor is 2,890 6 with the floor area ratio of 29.99% and that's below our uh quod uh threshold which is 30% um the exterior of the building this is a a Colonia style home we have uh uh the front is not as wide as the side the side is um uh facing the side the street is pretty wide um and uh this is the outside of the building uh it's a colonial style home with uh um uh horizontal boards at the first floor and board and Bon at the second floor we have black windows uh casements we have dark roofs and dark sofits and also we have uh stone at the base of the building um the height of this uh the height of this building 34 ft 64 ft um the addic is only accessible uh through uh pull downstairs from the second floor um there is no windows on the Gable end of the house facing front or the side uh we have just a small window at the back just for ventilation um the height of the attic uh uh from the attic floor to the highest point of the roof is approximately 10 ft we have the collar tie at 7 ft the collar tie runs horizontally about 7 feet that's it terrific I have no further questions for this witness anybody on the board have any questions for this witness I have a question uh the height of the add you said 10 ft is it going to be living space or there's no um no it's it's not going to be living space there's no access there's no like um staircase going to that it could just pull down okay thank you I do actually have a question uh this the building is on the corner the right side view is is kind of a little bit of a lot much um I don't know can you discuss that a little bit I mean is is I I just because it's close to the street I just see it's it's it's if you pull up the view so this is this is the side that yeah so this is the side that faces the the side the street it has uh um lap siding and then we have a vertical p and Bon at the top um I can maybe uh improve that a little bit for the static part of things in relationship to the windows yeah I think that might be a little helpful for my eye I don't know if anybody else on the board has any view on that or not but uh that's the only thing I was thinking from that yeah definitely I I can improve it and maybe make it balanced in The Gables the windows so they look very symmetrical I again that's not an issue we can agree on the record as a condition ofal to modify the facade of the side SP in the street so that there's more context okay thank you back to you sir I think we're good oh anyone in the public have any questions for this witness did I ask that not sure if I did but no no one all right I like to call my last witness my planner Mr Nick graviano I do Nicholas with an H last name gravano g r a v and Victor i a n o Mr gravano is your license still in good standing for planning yes sir have you had an opportunity to review the project yes I have I've also been to the site does the board accept them as expert in planning yes we can accept them as expert and planning terrific why don't you walk us through the proposed variance relief and why you believe that we can satisfy those notifications yes the applicants requesting a variance for Block 3203 lot 60 15 Brookside Place um this is an an exceptionally shaped piece of property this is a zone that requires uh 75 ft by 125 ft this applicant has 50 feet by 192.5 ft so it it is a longer parcel than it is a wide parcel um the applicant is requesting an existing condition variance for the lot width whereas 75 ft is required 50 feet is existing and proposed that certainly could be granted under the C1 criteria without substantial impairment to the Zone plan or zoning ordinance uh the applicant is also requesting a front yard setback whereas 40 feet is required 32 feet is proposed I would like to note that 28.7 feet is existing so the applicant's actually uh improving this by 4.3 ft uh the established front yard setback for numbers 9 11 and 13 are are roughly 30 ft so the applicant is in keeping with that setback um that variance certainly could be granted under the C2 criteria advancing purpose I promoting a desirable visual environment and good Civic design and Arrangement without substantial impairment to the Zone plan or zoning ordinance the applicant is also uh requesting a front yard setback for the sidey yard which which is the culdesac street um 5.26 ft exists today the applicant's new dwelling will actually be at 10.92 feet um strict application of the municipality zoning ordinance would require a house that's 5 foot wide certainly uh not something that I I think you see uh in today's uh building world so uh that that front yard setback variants could be granted under both the C1 criteria due to the double front yard situation of this slot and the uh narrowness of the specific piece of property and could also be granted uh under the C2 criteria advancing uh purpose I uh desirable visual environment uh there's no substantial impairment to the Zone plan or zoning ordinance with the granting of that variance I think the applicant's proposal of a roughly 30 foot wide house is appropriate in this context I have no further questions for this witness does anyone on the board have any questions for this Witness no I was going to make a comment um yeah I okay I'll make a comment um thank you very much I think this is um a great design and I appreciate the fact that you moved the two setbacks the um front yard and the front side yard and sort of repr proportioning the house um given the fact that it is so deep um so thank you very much and with that I'd like to make a motion oh well just I neglected to ask if anyone in the audience had any comments ments none and do you want to make a closing statement all you're good thank you feel free okay so yes I will make a motion Miss Khan votes yes Miss cona yes Mr Kenya yes Mr horn yes Mr sha yes Mr Sherman yes and Mr Beer yes okay okay I'll call the last app are we ready to call the last application please okay block 30 Block 3100 lot 39 25 Wale Road application number 2024 55- V Road act Builders LLC applicant seeks approval for a two-story addition with a deck in violation of the following sections 17099 C2 front yard setback 40 ft required 28.75 proposed 11.25 ft variance requested 17099 C3 front yard setback 10 ft required 3.78 fet proposed 6.22 variants requested 17099 C3 left side yard setback 10 ft required 3.21 ft proposed 6.9 ft variance requested 17099 C3 aggregate side yard setback 30% required 13.58% proposed 15.52% variance requested garage 17-3 private garage minimum inside Dimension 12 ft width and 20 feet height required 11.6 width and 20.8 height proposed 6 feet with variance requested 17087 cc4 habitable floor floor area ratio 30% required 35.9% proposed 5.98% variance requested good evening my name is Matthew ban from ball firm SS com and gross I represent the applicant Road at Builders although it sounded like Miss con was reading off a CVS receipt I assure you that the reality is that all these variances that we're requesting here tonight are actually existing non-conformities but for that ratio itself and the reason why is that this site is played it's played because it's a natural hardship the natural hardship is that it is potentially about 20% undersized so because of that you have the existing non-conformities with that being said we do have the ratio but making sure that we can have a site that could accommodate this ratio we're requesting we are approximately I would say 600 square fet below what is permitted uh for habal floor area so again although it looks like we have a slew of variances the reality are reality is whether or not this application gets approved tonight or not they still exist and as far as the ratio goes the policing of that is a Hab floor area itself of which we're 600 squ ft below what is permitted for the subject site with that being said I'd like to introduce two witnesses that I'll have here tonight I'll have my architect Mr Aman Sandra and also my planner Mr Nick ravano to put that testimony on the record and therefore for your adjudication if I may I'd like to call my first witness my architect Mr aan zedra please do mred you testimony about to give the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth I do thank you give us your full name for the record please I in sedra last name is sedra s CD and your license is a good standing in architecture yes thank you we can accept you as a expert in architecture all right Mr s did you have an opportunity to visit the subject site yes and also review the zoning code and master plan for this Zone yes all right why don't you walk us through what you're proposing here tonight sure um we're we're proposing an addition to existing single family um so the addition at the first floor consist of a rear addition uh to the existing house um uh the first floor of the house consists of existing one car garage which it will stay we're also proposing a second car garage to the house and the first floor consists of all the Living Spaces uh we don't have a guest uh bedroom in this level giving the small footprint of the house uh we only have a small uh home office um the first floor area for the for this house is 1,277 um the garage is 478 with 450 is not counted and the remaining will uh it's getting counted toward the square footage uh the basement consists of um just a a rck room one open big recck room and a bedroom at the back of the house um and also we have a bathroom and closet the area for the basement is 1,277 the second floor uh consists of the sleeping areas where we have four bedrooms um and we have also a laundry room the second floor area is uh 1,44 uh the total floor area for the first and second floor is 2681 with the floor area ratio of 35.9 um also I would like to mention that the second floor has an open um or the stair foer it's a it's a two-story open stair which we in in the town as we know we count uh uh we count this space twice which is only used uh at the lower level and this area for the stair is 91 Square ft um uh the exterior of the building is uh is a colonial style home with the um you know Stone base uh board and batten at the up uh upper Gable and then the rest of the house is um Hardy horizontal lab siding uh we're using uh some nice big windows at the entry foer and uh the windows will be double hung uh casement windows for this house uh we're you using dark roofs and dark sofits uh the attic um only accessible with uh pull down the stair from the second floor and the height from the attic floor to the highest point of roof is 8'4 and4 uh and also the collar tie is like I would say like 6 5 6'6 from the attic floor um that's it so again just to confirm the attic space itself cannot be habitable yeah it cannot be habitable it's just um just accessible the pull down stairs and there is not enough height up there as well great thank you so much I have no further questions for this witness is anyone in the board have any questions for this witness anybody in the public have any questions for this Witness back to you like to introduce my last witness my planner Mr Nick ravian please do you swear to testimony give this matter be the truth the whole truth and me bet the truth I do gives your full name for the record please Nicholas gravano Mr gravano is your license still in good standing for planning yes it is thank you we can accept you as a uh expert in planning thank you so I've had an opportunity to review the plans the municipality's master plan and zoning ordinance I've also visited the site uh the applicant is requesting uh a habitable floor area ratio variants along with a c variants for a specific piece of property known as block 3100 lot 39 with a street address of 25 Wardell um this is a home constructed in 1940 that's currently 1320 Square ft uh the applicant is requesting relief tonight to build an addition on the rear of the dwelling uh all of the variances that you heard rattled off in relation to setbacks and um lot area and lot width are existing on the site today the applicant's proposed addition conforms to all yard setbacks um so when you hear of a a required side yard setback and aggregate sidey yard setback those relate to conditions that exist in the dwelling today and I'm you go back and when you look at the the floor plan proposed by the applicant if you see that the uh little bump out to the left of the dwelling uh that bump out's actually double the size today the applicant is removing a port portion of the addition to that side of the house to bring that side greater Inc conformance to the sidey yard setback variant so that that that relief over there is actually being reduced by approximately 50% and the addition is going in the rear rear of the dwelling um Mr pada indicated this is an undersized lot which ties into the request for the habitable floor area ratio uh the applicant lot area is 7451 sare ft whereas 9,375 Square ft is required uh that's a deficiency of 1,924 square ft um that relief could certainly be granted under the C1 criteria without substantial impairment to the Zone planner zoning ordinance uh the same goes for the lot width variants being requested a 50 foot is existing and proposed whereas 75 ft is required uh the front yard relief side yard relief and aggregate uh side yard relief fall under the same category um so moving on we're going to examine the habitable floor area ratio variance um the the applicant's proposal is requesting a 5.98% relief however uh the applicant's habitable floor area number is actually 539 Square fet less than what's permitted by ordinance so the ordinance permits 3,220 square feet whereas the applicant is proposing 2,681 Square ft 2,681 Square fet in today's day and age is certainly a modest sized house which I think is uh be fitting of of the site and and the neighborhood of a Hole uh the applicant is uh proposing storm water management system to the site which uh does not exist today and as I mentioned previously the applicant is reducing uh the sidey guard setback Relief by 50% on that side of the house by removing a portion of that addition so certainly looking at the positive criteria this proposal advances uh purpose a promotion of the public health safety morals and General Welfare by reducing that sidey setback and by providing on-site stormw management system it also advances purpose G A sufficient space and appropriate location for variety of residential uses to meet the needs of New Jersey citizens and there's no substantial impairment to the Zone plan or zoning ordinance with the granting of the habitable floor area ratio variance and Mr graviano the 539 Square ft that is below the habitable floor area that doesn't include the 91 squ fet double count that technically we do by calculation of habit floor area under meath the Min code correct that is correct so if you if you counted that forer uh you know we would bring it over 600 sare ft less than than ordinance requirements thank you I have no further questions for this witness does anyone on the board have any questions for this witness in the rendering that we saw previously um this is a corner property the next next to the property is a brook right so in the rendering I thought there were houses next to there was another house next to it so that might be inaccurate yes exactly exactly but in the rendering I think that shows hous on both sides that confused me for a bit there's no house on the okay thank you is the garage staying as it exists now yes yes I don't want to make the motion right now but I just want to make a comment if that's okay okay um I just want to tell you that we really appreciate the work that you've put into these four applications they're really thoughtful um there's a lot of consideration going into the size of each lot they're not tremendous um they're definitely working within the constraints of each lot um you've also done things like storm water management um you reduced the lot coverage you're adding dryw so really improving these Lots so we really we greatly appreciate that I also want to point out that every time you presented the application you you talked about the attic space because you know that we're really hung up on that um and that's always the question so you've anticipated our questions and you've answered them so I appreciate that letting us know the high point of each of the attics and that they're all pulled downstairs so um we do appreciate your thoughtfulness and that's leave somebody else to make a motion first does anybody in the audience want to make a statement regarding this application nope do you want to have a closing statement no I just want to say thank you very much for Mrs Khan uh acknowledging that most people say that we don't listen but maybe we do I'm sorry what you say no just kid anybody like to make a motion I'd like to make a motion to approve I'll second it okay Mr horn approved Mr sha oh Mr Sherman did you second it who second Mr um Mr Kenya yes Miss con yes Mr yes Mr Sherman yes Miss Conor yes and Mr Beer yes okay thank you so much thank you thank you thank you this concludes the six o'clock special meeting going to take a two-minute break and we'll get going on the 7 o'clock meeting regularly scheduled meeting in two minutes e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e for